Saturday I traveled to Marshall to broadcast the LQPV softball section game with Murray County Central. It was a beautiful spring day, not a cloud in the sky and bright warm sunshine!

As I drove into the Marshall softball complex I knew I was going to have a difficult time finding a parking spot. There were already games going on and maybe a thousand people or better already there. I ended up parking in front of the Marshall High School and had a very long walk to the softball fields. The Marshall softball complex is massive. 4 fields with a concession stand in the middle. The bleachers at each field are concrete and can hold many people. It’s a great place, the only downside is there is no shade.

I set my radio equipment up behind home plate next to the guy running the scoreboard. As I was setting up I noticed the sun was warm and I knew that it was going to be a warm day broadcasting with no shade to protect me. After the game I was pretty red with a good sunburn. The guy running the scoreboard and I got to know each other pretty good. He plays football for SMSU and he told me he didn’t know anything about softball and this was his first time running a scoreboard.

Before the game I visited with the head coach for MCC and got a line up from her. You couldn’t help but notice she was very pregnant. I felt sorry for her having to stand out in the hot sun in that condition. Interesting fact about her is she was the first female to wrestle in the Minnesota state wrestling tournament when she was in high school at Murray County Central. So I asked her about that and told her that she beat a wrestler that I knew in the section wrestling tournament to advance to state.

MCC beat LQPV Saturday 16-6. As I was packing up my radio equipment after the game some Murray County Central adults that were sitting below me told me that I do a really good job broadcasting. I was surprised that they could hear me doing play by play. One parent thanked me for saying such nice things about her daughter during the broadcast. I asked them how I did with the pronunciations of the girls names? They said I was perfect. It’s conversations like this that make me smile knowing people appreciate what I do.

After sitting in the direct sun for three hours it was time for me to make the long walk back to my car. After I reached my car I was pretty tired. I’m not used to the warmth of the sun for long periods of time. But it felt good. After I got home I had a graduation party in Appleton to attend. As I entered the Appleton golf course for the graduation reception the first thing someone said to me was ” Paul, you’re sunburned!!” Yep!